In my last post, I served my Balsamic chicken with Boulangère Potatoes. It was divine! As promised, here is the potato dish recipe, in all it’s glory.

Anyone who regularly reads my posts will know of my tottie addiction. This is my healthy alternative to potato dauphinoise (wouldn’t it be amazing if we could have dauphinoise every day? I’d probably never get fed up of it).

Recipes vary and can get quite fancy, but I prefer mines nice and basic. Here is what I did:

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1kg potatoes, sliced thinly

2 onions, sliced thinly

300ml chicken stock

salt & pepper to season

a couple of knobs of butter for the top (optional)

I went to town with my Mandolin slicer again! Theres something very therapeutic about setting upon a mound of totties with a sharp blade…

My layer sequence was:

1/3 potatoes

1/2 onion

*SEASON*

1/3 potatoes

1/2 onion

*SEASON*

1/3 potatoes

I covered it with stock, until it almost came up to the surface, but didn’t quite reach. I seasoned once again, dotted a few wee knobs of butter over the top and covered with foil.

Then I put into a preheated oven (200 degrees) for 45 minutes. I removed the foil, then baked for a final 15 mins.

If I were cooking for one, I suspect I’d probably still make enough for four. I wouldn’t even make an accompanying dish; a tray of boulangère totties and a fork = One Happy Catherine.

It tastes even better the next day, if it manages to last that long. It freezes well too!

Enjoy! 🙂

In other news, I have decided to only post on Wednesdays from now on. This is so I can work on my writing commitments (which I have viciously bestowed upon myself), but I hope to still browse my favourite food blogs throughout the week (usually in the depths of procrastination; we may be seeing a lot of each other).

This recipe was discovered as a result of my penchant for those “Daily Recipe” emails I sign up to. Honestly, I get about 20 emails a day from the many recipe sites I browse. So many, in fact, that it’s somewhat overwhelming and I don’t make the time to look at them all.

This recipe, however, is from another TV Chef, Giada De Laurentiis. She’s sickeningly beautiful and an amazing cook. Not fair! But I’ll forgive her, since this recipe was just too delicious. And after reading all the rave reviews, I just had to try it.

This is my first attempt at using the Americanized “cup” method of measuring ingredients. It was very simple 🙂

Ingredients (Serves 4, but I made dinner for 3 and froze the rest in a tub)

3 chicken breasts

1 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 tomato ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

I preheated the oven to 180 degrees, then roasted my chicken for 25 mins.

Meanwhile, I combined all the ingredients in a pot, brought to the boil then simmered for 20 mins to reduce.

I brought the chicken out of the oven, covered it in the Balsamic BBQ mixture, and returned to the oven for a further 15 mins.

I served this up with some boulangère potatoes (which I will post about next time!), and green beans. It was scrumptious 🙂

Next time, I will definitely marinade my meat in this mixture overnight! I completely understand why there are so many excellent reviews and I’m sure this will be a regular feature in my Meal Planning 🙂

The real, true, proper version (of which mines completely isn’t) he first tried in a gorgeous little restaurant in St. Anne’s, called Margherita’s. We’ve been there many times and he never deviates from his Pollo Vesuvio, no matter how many times he says he will. I can’t blame him; it’s gorgeous!

So gorgeous, in fact, that I just had to try to recreate it myself. Their description of Pollo Vesuvio is “chicken breast cooked in onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, wine, brandy, cherry tomatoes, Napoli sauce, tabasco and cream”.

I refuse to buy a bottle of brandy, just to use a splash of it in a dish. I don’t drink brandy, so I know the remains will just fester away in the back of my cupboard. Therefore, the brandy is gone from my adaptation. I also use tinned tomatoes for ease of use. Here are all the things you’ll need to create this stupendous dish (my way):

Ingredients (Serves 4):

4 chicken breasts, whole

2 onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 red peppers, diced

500g mushrooms, sliced

2 tin chopped tomatoes, drained

1 tbsp sugar

1 glass of white wine

Chicken Stock (1 cube mixed into 100ml boiled water)

1 heaped tbsp dried oregano

1 heaped tbsp dried basil

Tabasco, a generous dash (as much as you can handle!)

50ml cream (room temperature)

Grated Parmesan (a big handful – room temperature)

Make sure everything is all prepared before you start 🙂

Brown the chicken all over, in olive oil, then take out and set aside on a plate.

Fry the onions and garlic for 5-10 mins. Add your red peppers and mushrooms, stirring for a further 5 mins.

Put your chicken back into the pan.

Add your chopped tomatoes, then sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar over it (this will get rid of that tangy-ness of the tomato that makes the eyeball twitch).

Add the white wine, chicken stock, basil, oregano and Tabasco, then give it all a good stir.

Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Turn off the heat, put your chicken breasts on their plates, then add your cream and grated parmesan to the sauce. After a good stir, pour it decadently over your chicken breasts. Mmmm.

Best served with tasty roast totties!

One of the great things about this dish, is that there is sometimes leftover sauce (which freezes no bother yay!). Add it to some pasta and smoked sausage. Tastiest. Lunch. Ever.

Have you ever tried to recreate your favourite dish from a restaurant? There’s a starter dish I fancy trying, from the ASK restaurant. It’s crostini with beef tomato, goats cheese, caramelised onions and balsamic vinegar, served with rocket. LLARRRRRRRRRRRRR!